hibiscus petals
by Aiko Isari
Summary: Ken gets an internship with the woman named Kuremi Kyoko. Somehow, this gets him caught up in the affairs of a group of rich kids. Arata/Ken
1. 1

1.

To quote Motomiya Daisuke on Christmas Eve in the western calendar of 2006, "growing up is like taking cold medicine. The sooner you do it, the more you deal with it, and the worst it tastes."

… Okay, so it wasn't the best analogy, but it was still kind of accurate right?

Ken was certainly going to believe it.

"I really need a better sense of direction."

"You need a lot of things, Ken."

Ken made a face at his phone, at Daisuke's face on his phone. "Really?"

"Sorry." Daisuke didn't sound like he meant it, which was fair. "You find it yet?"

"I've found the mall."

Daisuke grumbled something about how lucky Ken was to work in a mall. Ken didn't believe that. It was Nakano Broadway after all, and everyone whispered about it. Even the people who probably shouldn't. But he knew the rumors: disappearances, malfunctioning technology, even monsters that made descriptions of vicious digimon sound friendly in comparison. And now he was going to work here with… Kuremi Kyoko.

"This will be a good experience," he decided to say.

"Only if I get to work at the Chinese place there!" Daisuke sounded positively gleeful at the thought.

Ken tried not to laugh. "Thanks for looking out for me."

"Course. What are friends for?"

Ken decided not to answer that and just keep looking around. Daisuke wasn't there to exact the revenge he would want to give, so it just wasn't worth it.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** _Time to start posting prize fics. One at a time, hooray. This one is for Tomoe Mami, who requested Arata/Ken. And now that the relationship tags are here, I can do so. So, here goes!

Challenges: Contest Prize, Mega Prompts Quote Prompt 234., Advent 2016 Day 25, and Valentine's Advent 2016 day 9. interseason minific masterclass 10.


	2. 2

2.

Ken's first even remotely close impression of the agency was that there was poison in it somewhere, and whatever it was, was almost deadly.

Hence the guy hunched over a waste bin conveniently placed outside as he puked his guts out.

Ken was tempted to turn right around. Instead, he turned right to a water fountain and found a cup.

The person happily took it, eyes wide with gratitude. "God it was worse than I thought this time..." They brushed their red hair out of their eyes and grinned. "Sorry about that. I'm Aiba Takumi. You're the intern right?" He wiped his face with a napkin he had in his pocket. "I can't believe she left that in her fridge... Give me one sec. I'll just dump this and be ready for you. "Kyoko-san's been gone for a while now, so you're stuck with me. Sorry about that. Go on in!"

And before Ken could even _answer,_ Takumi was gone like a fast bumblebee, out the door, and down another exit.

Ken, blinking, went inside -

"Ooh! Are you a client?"

And saw a Digimon, a bright little cat-dog thing, sitting on one of the sofas.

"I'm Wanyamon!" It chirped. "A detective Digimon! What's your case? Takumi will handle it when he gets back from the dumpster!"

Ken _seriously_ considered walking away.


	3. 3

3.

Eventually he was seated on the other couch, Takumi on the first with the Wanyamon in his lap. The boy looked at Ken in this strange, guileless way. Ken couldn't put his finger on it.

"So," Takumi began, still smiling. "You're Ichijouji Ken. You and your friends went to the digital world a little while back, didn'tcha?"

Ken froze, scenarios running he was sure right over his face. Daisuke had ruined his unflappable cool genius mask thing.

Takumi waited and Ken fidgeted in his seat. _Right. I'm supposed to answer._ "Yes, we were. It was a long fight."

"Must have been," the other agreed, expression seeming to fade away into something… abnormal. Unwelcome. Then it snapped back like a rubber band. "Sorry. So, we've been having a lot of problems lately. Have you heard about the Kamishiro Corporation scandals?" His voice was completely off, serious and stern unlike that bright, Daisuke worthy smile.

Ken racked his brain. "Only what's on the news."

Takumi nodded sharply. "Right. So! Until Kyoko-san gets back I'm running everything and a lot of what's going on is related to that. So I need you to take one of the main issues off of me. If you're okay with that, I'll bring you up to speed. If not, I'll send a call over to Matayoshi-san. I'm sure he'd be happy to give you an internship that would keep you out of this."

Ken carefully controlled his jaw. "I… I'm sorry?"

Takumi smiled. "Ichijouji-san," he began. "I'm in this to the end. You, last I heard, have not considered continuing your issues with the Digimon. I don't want to force you into something that doesn't involve you."

Ken didn't even have to think. "Please don't worry. I am a Chosen Child. It's my job as a detective to get involved in things that don't concern me."

This time, Ken did not imagine that glint in his eye. "Good answer."


	4. 4

4.

"I need you to find Sanada Arata."

Apparently that power outage he and Daisuke had experienced the other day was his primary responsibility, and he had refused to be arrested and run off to the law. No one had any clue were he was and the police wouldn't give away where he lived. So they were to start from zero and Takumi's only advice was to "Talk to Mirei, she's probably at her shop next door. She always knows the best place to go."

So he did, and when he rang the old time phone he heard a voice that made him think of Hikari, even as they let out a comforting laugh.

"You'll need an EDEN account to get anywhere, he didn't think of that," she said. "So go there, Hudie Cafe is a good place to log in, and poke into places you aren't supposed to. Getting into trouble is a part of your role after all. As a group I mean."

"… What?"

She laughed and all he got in response was a dial tone.

Ken's eye twitched but he pulled out his phone anyway.

To Ikebukuro it was.

On the way there, he ran into a boy in a white hoodie. It didn't click at first, the teenager was running so fast he didn't even notice the smack, but once in the Hudie cafe, the obvious came to him.

Ken merely sighed to himself.


	5. 5

5.

EDEN didn't make sense. It demanded a frankly embarrassing amount of information to get the avatar working correctly, you needed to update it whenever you updated your outfit in a significant way, and it got into records so far up your past life, it had somehow found, on record, that he had been kidnapped at the age of eleven despite the police having never been involved once in that.

The creator of EDEN must have been insane.

Must have, because looking him up revealed a news report two and a half pages long and the picture of a corpse so bloodied up there was no way it could be called anything like a suicide but there it was.

And right below it was a reference to another article and another, and another, all until roughly eight years prior.

And after a few minutes of looking, there was Sanada Arata's name, listed as a participant in an undisclosed prgram, or at least his _rumored_ participation. So were, weirdly enough, Kamishiro children, one of which had something called EDEN Syndrome, which was the equivalent of a coma. Someone else named Shiramine Nokia (her small picture was undoubtedly peppy) and…

Aiba Takumi.

Did he have any _idea?_

 _Then_ , to cap the weirdness of today, Daisuke called him.

"We need Imperialdramon," he said. "Odaiba. Now."

Ken ran to the nearest train.


	6. 6

6.

By the time he got there, Wormmon at his heels, he was just there to see Omegamon fall.

It would have been poetic if the shock wave hadn't knocked them both off of their feet.

"Ken!" Daisuke's shout waved him over and he ducked behind the debris of a bus station to see the others. Miyako and Iori looked exhausted. Which was fair, none of them had quite recovered from what happened to them after all. And they never could and never would. That was the part of growing up that none of them talked about. "Good timing, we need Imperialdramon."

The air boomed. Ken nodded and raised his Digivice.

Then the world glitched out, right before their eyes and Iori started screaming.

Ken whipped his head to the right and saw brilliant red scales.

Then wind blew him sky-high and he went- smack, into a blue body. Their white sweater flapped in the wind, mostly. There was something gray holding him to a chest that felt too small for the clothes covering it.

"Big fella, ain't he?" asked the voice. He could hear the smirk. It felt like how he had smirked once, so sure of himself on the surface and falling apart in the rest. "You think he'd taste good?"

"What?"

"You're right," said the voice. "Probably not. He's too big, too corrupted. I'd puke before I got to his throat."

Daisuke was shouting something. Was it his name? Ken couldn't tell, really.

His eyes were stuck on the twisted, warped grey thing like an arm.

"Hey," the voice said. "Don't need to eat you. Never tried. Just… I wanna talk. Why'd you break into my files?"


	7. 7

7.

He couldn't move.

He didn't have Wormmon and he _couldn't move._

And he was hostage to the guy he was supposed to be looking for. Great.

He hoped that they saw him.

Sanada Arata looked him over from where he was settled on a rickety chair. Half-eaten food was strewn across the small room. His other arm, inhuman and sick grey and black, seemed to slither in place. The fingers curled without seeming prompted. It held a fist despite the way Arata's expression in particular looked at ease.

"You gonna talk now that you're on solid ground?" he asked, drawling low. "Or what?"

"I..." Ken stared at him. "You kidnapped me."

"I found you have a habit of disappearin' anyhow." Arata shrugged his human shoulder, all smiles still. "Eleven years old, twice in under a year. Cause o' Digimon I heard." Whatever Ken's face looked like, Arata laughed at it. "Aw, I got it right, dinnit I?"

"Your friends are worried about you," Ken blurted. "They asked me to look into you?"

That took the smile off of his face. It slid off like a magnet. "Hah!" The word was shouted and it may have shook the walls. "Idiots! Like they need to get involved. They even dragged the grand ol' Ichijouji Ken into it. The _genius."_

The last word, the last sneer, made Ken shift.

"Yeah," Arata said, voice no longer a snarl. "Yeah you're just like me. But I'll be makin' it right."

A low anger pulsed in Ken's stomach. "You don't know me."

Arata only laughed.


	8. 8

8.

Freedom came easily. Once he had his information, Arata just let Ken walk out the door. More specifically, he let Ken bolt out of the room with terror in his gut and not a second look.

Hours later, when he was home and with a nice cup of cocoa and on the fifth call to everyone that he was fine and dandy, the shock faded away and the panic set in.

(At least Daisuke was coming over with Wormmon. That would help.)

So, in desperation, he called the Kuremi Detective Agency. Unlike when he'd needed to confirm his internship, Takumi answered immediately and with such a sleepy voice Ken suspected he had dozed off, which was a shocker on its own. Still, the other snapped to alertness when Ken explained everything.

"Idiot." Ken heard the affection, so clear, brilliant and clear. "Okay, he said all that… all right… Ichijouji-san, I still want you to look into this situation, but for now, sit him out. If he's that powerful and unstable, your life is at risk. Kyoko-san would hate that. I need you to look into Kamishiro. I'll call you if that changes. Okay?"

Ken was all too happy to agree and hang up. After all, Daisuke had just barged into his house.


	9. 9

9.

Daisuke did not calm down.

Then again, Daisuke was not a calm person in general.

He was old enough now that he'd progressed from running around the room in a frenzy to pacing around a table in rapid strides.

"Change internships."

"No, Daisuke."

"Change majors."

"No."

"But you're not safe here with some guy who can kidnap you faster than Oikawa!" Daisuke stopped and whirled to face him. "Your grade's not worth this man, and I can't look after you every day."

"I'm sure you'll try anyway," Ken said under his breath.

"Don't tempt me."

Ken made a face. "I'm not quitting, Daisuke. I doubt I can the way things are."

Daisuke's face contorted with annoyance and fear. Then he sighed. "When did we turn into each other?"

Ken couldn't help but laugh. "You know when, Daisuke."

* * *

For all of Daisuke's worrying, nothing happened. For all of Daisuke's worrying, the world was strange, but they were not guided to save it.

Then one day, Ken woke up with Wormmon at his side, and Daisuke had no memory of any of it. Only he and Wormmon seemed to remember the sunset ridden sky or the grey eater hand that had snatched him away.

"I think you're having too much of your boss' coffee, Ken," Daisuke said, thought not unkindly. There was always genuine worry, and it made Ken want to vomit. And not because of the implication of that coffee.

Even now, it was still strange, too spicy, or not enough sugar.

Miyako-san was the same way. Hikari looked strangely unhappy whenever he brought it up, but she never made a sound about it.

Then of course, once again, he was tangled in the life of Sanada Arata, this time by the young man himself.


	10. 10

10.

"Yo."

He said it in that voice that Ken knew from his days of past dropping grades, where you were trying so hard to be cool and collected and not intimidated at all but you failed miserably. But he had to give him credit, his voice didn't waver at all. Ken for his part, did not waver either, setting his jaw much like his father had taught him by example. Only his voice was much quieter.

"Hi," he said because what do you say to your former kidnapper who looked a lot better today? What do you say in this world where most of the population doesn't even remember?

Arata swallows, visibly. "Okay, so uh, you may not remember but I was a _real jerk_ to you, and I wanted to apologize."

"More like we made him apologize." Takumi had been somehow right behind him and Ken hadn't noticed.

Ken took a minute, clutching Wormmon, harder than he usually did but the caterpillar never cared. "You remember? All of it?" He wasn't insane all over again?

Arata nearly fell over. "Oh thank _fuck_."

"Now's not the time for that, Arata."

Ken felt the laughter nearly bubble over into madness, into pain, or hysteria. Or all three. It wouldn't surprise him. "What's going on?"

Takumi helped the much taller Arata to his feet. "Let's start at the beginning, all right? This will take a while."

"I've got all day." He'd better. He would make time if he had to to get some answers.


	11. 11

11.

"So, if I have this right..."

Arata nodded.

"You and your friends fought god, won, won _twice._ "

Another nod.

"But the world was reset to where _none of it happened._ "

"Yep." Takumi's expression was marred with… something. A complicated, uncomfortable something. Arata glanced back at him and got a smile so fast it had to have been physically painful.

"Like a reboot?"

"Yep."

"How?" Ken breathed. "Was it Homeostasis or someone? Wouldn't we have known? Why don't the Chosen Children know?"

"Yggdrasil made it that way."

Ken almost fell into his chair. He shouldn't be so surprised, realistically. He should expect this. They had all told him and the others about the ability to reboot. But that Yggdrasil, who had tried to murder all humans and make a new world, doing this?

"It's not as gentle as it sounds," Arata said, rubbing his neck. "And not as good either."

"You could stop sounding like EDENfeed and tell him," Takumi muttered, earning a jab in the arm.

Ken couldn't help his smile. Wormmon clambered to his shoulder. Takumi seeing that immediate went to scoop him up. Ken stiffened but his partner went happily.

"Come on," Takumi added with a small grin. "Let's get a snack. We'll let these two have a moment."

"Why would they need a moment?" Wormmon asked but they left anyway.

Leaving the two most awkward people, and an awkward silence in their place.

"Jerk," Arata muttered. And Ken laughed. And it didn't feel wrong.


	12. 12

12.

Somehow, Takumi and Ken ended up working for the same woman, properly this time. And Takumi was like a much more relaxed Daisuke (which wasn't Daisuke at all, if he was being honest) so Ken felt no more uncomfortable than he had expected to, all things considered. Cases were anything innocent (Ken still didn't know how a cat had gotten trapped in an air vent, though for whatever reason it made Takumi's eyes mist over a little) to some truly disturbing ones (Something called the Perfect Girl Project which had made him watch his friends like a hawk for a week and a half).

And every day when they left, Arata would meet with them for tea at the local tea shop.

"Aren't you broke?" Takumi asked at one point, as he fed his own Terriermon a cookie.

Arata snorted. "Please, I'm not Nokia. I've got plenty of money for this."

"Mm. Too bad I'm third-wheeling the whole thing."

"Too bad you're _what._ "

Ken choked on his drink. "You're what?"

Takumi only grinned, watching Arata's face turn an uncomfortable shade of red. "Oh were you guys both not aware at the same time, my bad."

"I kidnapped him."

"Yuugo tried to kill me and we're still-"

"Taku, if you do not kindly _not talk about my best friend that way-"_

"Oh so it's only okay if you do it?"

The two of them fell into easy bickering once more. For once, Ken was relieved as he was able to sink into his cushion with his food and just think a very simple,

 _What._


	13. 13

13.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad of a person is Takumi for outing his best friend in a tea shop?"

"Seven at the very least," Daisuke said with a snort.

"Nine," Miyako shot back, probably one-upping him just because she could. "Because that could spread around the entire mall, if it hasn't already."

"Also he put you in the crossfire." Hikari's voice was a comfort by his ears. "I'd say that's an eleven."

This time, however, her words made his face burn. "The crossfire?"

"Arata is attractive in a techie sort of way," Hikari said, still at her computer. "Probably like you were at school. Now that the rumor's spreading, you'll never hear the end of it."

"And what if that was fine with me?"

Ken regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. But it was all the worse from the smirk she leveled at him when she finally turned around, alongside the knowing looks flickering from one of his friends to another.

"Then you're slower than usual, Ken-kun," she replied in a voice that was undeniably smug.

"I need new friends," Ken decided. "And another seltzer water." Which he immediately got up to get.

"Water won't save you from the truth Ichijouji-san." said Iori, matter-of-fact as ever.

Daisuke laughed at the sunburned look gracing his face. "Leave the man some dignity guys."

Ken made a face. "I should have kidnapped Hikari-chan instead."

All of them paused to take that in. Then Takeru, unhelpfully from his seat at his own laptop balanced on his stomach, replied. "What was your first clue?"

Ken wisely decided to flee the room.


	14. 14

14.

They don't dance around each other, though they really should. Rather, Ken worked all the harder to pretend it didn't happen, pretend Arata didn't look puzzled at most at his awkwardness. In his defense, Ken was garbage with physical contact. He and his brother weren't huggy like the Motomiya siblings were once a year, they had always been close with bubble wands and time spent in the same room.

He had no idea how this worked at all. These romantic things were far from his expertise. Also, Arata wasn't giving any hints himself. He seemed hellbent not to do it.

Then again it wasn't romantic to kidnap someone.

"You two are absolute garbage at sleuthing," Takumi tells them with the brightest bulb smile ever one day. "How can you get the truth if you don't talk?"

"You watch too much Detective shonen drama," Arata deadpanned.

"Doesn't make me any less right."

Arata scowled at him. He receives a winning smile and a cheerful forced volunteer to get juices before Takumi is gone. And they were left alone.

"Ass," he muttered.

"Quite," Ken agreed.

They sat in silence at their computers a few minutes more. "So," Ken finally said. "We should… talk about this."

"You first."

"How."

They both laughed at each other. "Ok, new plan," Arata decided. "Wing it. Because I have no idea what I'm doing and all of my friends are useless."

Ken nodded, all too eager to not talk about this and not do anything when anyone could be watching.

He didn't not have the crest of courage for nothing.


	15. 15

15.

And yet despite everything, something was happening. Takumi took on the harder tasks from Kyoko as Ken's internship grew to an end, he was left with Arata more and more, who was doing… things. Probably still under the table things, but Kyoko needed him for something now that she wasn't apparently being possessed by a Digimon. (which yes had freaked Ken out a bit, just a _bit._ He hadn't forgotten Oikawa. That killed people!)

And seeing as even as the Kaiser, Ken had had no idea where to start with those things, learning from Arata naturally was the way to go. Ken had been more interesting in manipulating the Digital World, seeing what made it tick. Real World internet was another beast entirely since he'd been coding. He had ideas on how to manipulate what already existed, but he had no experience in creating it anew.

Arata was happy to help. And Ken was happier to make him make him see his own floor.

Daisuke laughed at him. Just out of spite, Ken cleaned his room too.

Everything was easy. Then the last day of his internship arrived.

"I'm sorry I wasn't around very much," Kyoko apologized, as smooth as could be. She does mean it though, it's all over her face. "The cases this time really involved a lot of field work."

"No it's okay." Ken smiled a bit. "I think I needed the hands-on experience more than anything. Is it all right if I can come back here later and work for a bit?"

"You can take my place for a while if you want." Takumi was laying on the couch, playing on his phone. "I've got a big project to take care of so you and Arata can work together with everything else."

"Where is Arata-san anyway?" Ken had been sent to find him ages ago and he hadn't turned up.

"Sulking," Takumi said with a grin that again, was way too smug and self aware for Ken's taste. "Why don't you go tell him about the job offer so he'll go outside?"

Ken glowered at him. "I think he's right. You're more dangerous than anyone gives you credit for."

Takumi grinned. "Trust me, I know. Now get going."


	16. 16

16.

Being given the address didn't change that Ken really didn't want to be here. Now that he could see the building, he wanted to be here even less. After all, this was where he'd been kidnapped for knowing too much or even starting to know too much. Even though Arata was different now (supposedly), that didn't make this a wee bit frightening.

Well, his best friend didn't have the Digimental of Courage for nothing. Ken hurried inside, lunch in hand.

Needless to say, he had likely surprised Arata, who was dragging out trash bags that smelled terrible. "What the heck are you doing out here?"

"Trying to talk to you, Mister Friendly," Ken replied, smiling a little. "I was going to let you know when I was coming back."

Arata looked at him, face flushed, eyes narrowing. "Oh. Uh. Sorry. I was cleaning. Folks coming over and all."

Ken didn't even have to think. "Can I help?"

After a few minutes, Arata agreed.

And thus the conversation was delayed for another day. And another, and another.

Ken had to admit though, it was worth it to see Arata's face when he popped back in on summer break.


	17. 17

17.

It happens suddenly, the shift from one thing to another.

Late nights aren't uncommon in the business sure. He has spent at least four of them in two weeks, slumped on one of Kyoko-san's couches even while she's left for the night, the lights off and them locked in.

At one point, of course, he dozes off, resting comfortably in the crook of Arata's arm. His scratchy sweater is almost comfortable with how tired they both are.

To his surprise, Arata didn't wake him. What wakes them is the laptop slipping from his leg onto Ken's knee, the corner butting hard against the skin.

They looked at each other. Ken felt his face warm. "Uh."

"You don't have to move," Arata said before he could finish. "If you're fine there anyway."

Ken nodded. "I'm fine. Thanks." Then the rest of the situation caught up with him. "What were you saying?"

Arata blinked, then shook his head. "Oh. See, this is where you start finding a lot of back doors..."

Ken settled back to listen once more. When he opened his eyes again, it was to Takumi and a phone camera and a quiet boy behind him, with a tiny smile of his own.

"Give that to me," he ordered.

Takumi laughed and didn't.

Ken scowled, face red. He was going to get Takumi-kun back for this. Somehow. After thanking him. Maybe.


End file.
